Saturday, January 17, 2009

New Backyard Bird, a Red-shouldered Hawk

As Rick (the Spotter) walked into the kitchen this morning, what did he see? A hawk staring at him through the kitchen door window! He immediately grabbed the camera and snapped off a quick shot.

Then he had Matty open the door slowly so he could photograph him using the monopod.

Let’s zoom in a little bit. Isn’t he a gorgeous, stocky bird? His colorful chest and bold black and white bars on his tail are very striking.

As he was looking over his new territory, a young Cooper’s Hawk flew up and perched in the same tree. The Spotter scores a twofer! Unfortunately, the Cooper’s Hawk was a bit skittish, so Rick had to retreat back inside to photograph him. Our greasy, grimy gopher gut windows didn’t allow for a crisp shot, but it works for me!

My Camera and Lenses

I hand hold the camera for all my photos (I used to use a monopod or tripod for distance and macro, but the VR lenses don't seem to require it). I crop the images down in Aperture (I'm a Mac).

The Story Behind "Red and the Peanut"

Red and the Peanut is named after my first bird memory. When I was about six, I was at my Great Aunt Mary's house and she was telling me about Red and the peanut. "Red" was a Northern Cardinal that had trained Aunt Mary to feed it peanuts on demand. Since Aunt Mary's "Red" started it all, what better name could I choose?